Unattainable
by WeaponFanfic
Summary: One kiss will change a friendship. One night will change a life. An AxJ and AxO oneshot. Rated M for subject matter and descriptions.
1. Replika

**Unattainable**

_One kiss will change a friendship. One night will change a life. An AxJ and AxO oneshot. Rated M for subject matter and descriptions._

Disclaimer: Code Lyoko was created by Tania Palumbo and Thomas Romain. It was produced by Antefilms and then by MoonScoop. It is aired in France by France 3 and in America by Cartoon Network. The author is neither employed by or affiliated with any of the above companies or entities. All characters, locales, and other non-original entities are property of the parties mentioned above. All rights reserved.

* * *

It started with a kiss.

When Odd heard that both Herve and Nikolas had infiltrated the factory and were dangerously close to finding out the secret that he and his friends had hidden away for so long, he came up with a fool proof plan to get them away from the property as soon as possible. The plan was to have the duo catch him and Aelita kissing in the factory, causing them to go away, embarrassed that they interrupted an intimate moment between two people. There was no way it could fail. Odd and Aelita had just renewed their friendship after a big argument earlier in the day. Considering that the fate of their secret was at stake, he thought that she would gladly agree to do this one thing for the good of the team. In his mind, the most difficult thing to do was to convince Jeremie it was a good idea.

To his surprise, Odd found that it was not hard to convince Jeremie that the plan would work. He knew that he would get some resistance out of him. After all, Odd knew that Jeremie was madly in love with the pink-haired princess. The very thought of another man even thinking about laying his lips on hers, even if that man was a good friend of his, made his blood boil. However, for the good of the mission, he knew that sacrifices had to be made and that this was one of them. Against his wishes, he agreed to Odd's request and had Aelita come back to Earth to execute the plan.

While Odd found it rather easy to convince Jeremie the plan was good, he found it much harder to convince Aelita the same thing. Like Jeremie, she knew that keeping the secret away from Nikolas and Herve was important. Having them know about the factory would put themselves and the world in jeopardy. She took Jeremie's feelings into account, however, and thought about what this would do to him. She liked him as more than a friend and she knew that he felt the same way. Despite her desire to just come out and tell him how she feels, she was always told by the other girls in Kadic that the boy has to be the one who proclaims his feelings first. With that knowledge, she chose to wait and wait until he would say something. His timidness, however, prevented him from saying anything, leaving their relationship in a silent state of limbo. In her mind, if Jeremie saw her kissing another man, even a close friend like Odd, he would be left heartbroken and may never seem like the same person she fell in love with again. Jealousy could drive him to change from being innocent and sweet to being bitter and angry in seconds. That was a risk she was not willing to take. After some convincing by Odd, however, Aelita's mind began to change. In her head, she saw that there was a way to get what she wanted while protecting the secret. She had decided to go forward with the plan.

The duo got themselves composed then headed for the freight elevator. Odd hit the elevator button that led to the ground floor. As the doors closed, he placed his hands by his side and sighed loudly. "Are you ready to do this?" he asked.

Aelita looked at the corner of the elevator where Jeremie had placed a security camera. Ever since rescuing her from the digital world of Lyoko, Jeremie had made it a point to install cameras all over the factory to alert him if anything shady was going on. She then turned to Odd and nodded. "Ready."

With one more floor to go, Odd prepared himself for the big act. "Alright, on the count of three. One... two..."

Odd's count was stopped when Aelita stood in front of him and planted her lips against his. The move caught the Kadic Casanova by surprise. The way he saw it, he was supposed to embrace Aelita before locking her into a kiss. Instead, with her being bold enough to make the first move, all he could do was stand there with his eyes wide open and his arms almost flapping on his sides. To call the move unexpected was being kind.

Herve and Nikolas stood there motionless as the elevator rose to the ground floor and revealed the two friends showing them that they were more than just friends. They were confused. After all, everyone knew that Jeremie and Aelita were head over heels for each other. Yet their eyes saw that it was was Odd that had captured her heart first. All they could do was stand there in disbelief.

"So, you guys enjoying the show?" Odd teased as Aelita finally moved away from him.

The two friends looked at each other, trying to find some kind of answer to give to Odd. In the end, they had nothing and simply walked away without saying a word.

Aelita and Odd waited for a bit before bursting into laughter. As she hit the elevator button to go back to the control room, Aelita turned to Odd. "That was a good plan, Odd. It really worked well."

"Yeah," he responded, "a bit too well?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing," he said, trying to drop the subject. The truth, however, was that Odd didn't just say something without any merit towards it. Odd felt something moments ago that he had never felt before. That kiss wasn't just a meaningless kiss. It felt magical. It sparked up feelings that he had never felt whenever he kissed all those girls he had met during his long dating career. What was just supposed to be a ploy to drive Herve and Nikolas away gave Odd a side effect he was not expecting. Looking at her eyes and her face as the elevator made the descent deeper into the factory, Odd was certain that he knew exactly what he was feeling that very moment.

Odd Della Robbia was in love with Aelita Schaeffer.

That was one year ago.

* * *

_Yes, one Chapter of a fic that's incomplete. Not something you usually see from me but I'm trying something new here. Enjoy this one. A new Chapter is coming soon._


	2. MIT

The Kadic Academy cafeteria had an aroma that filled the air with excitement and made the mouths of the students inside water with anticipation. The daily offering of food during the lunch hours of the cafeteria was a hit or miss affair. Half of the time the food served was both unappealing to the senses and unbearable to eat. The other half of the time the food served was good enough to make the students feel at home despite not actually being at home for most of the year. This time, however, was exceptional. The featured item on the menu was roasted duck, a dish worthy of being on the menu of a four-star French restaurant. Word spread quickly all over the campus and soon the cafeteria was filled with more than the average number of students converging in line all at once.

Aelita grabbed her tray of food and approached the table where her friends had sat ever since she knew them. She leaned over to Jeremie's side and gave him a peck on the cheek before sitting down beside him. "So, you have everything ready for the trip?" she asked.

Jeremie took a bite of his duck before answering. "Almost. I still have to pack up the laptop and the rest of the clothes I'll need for the first week. Other than that, everything is set."

Yumi propped her head up with her thumb and forefinger as she placed her elbow on the table. "Jeremie, tell me again. What's this trip you're taking all about?"

Jeremie cleared his throat before retelling the story he told other people several times before. "Last month, Principal Delmas got a call from his colleague in America. MIT was looking to expand their computer programming internship program to high school students outside of the United States. Once he heard about this, the Principal thought that I would be a good candidate for the program. After he talked to my parents, they agreed that this would be a great opportunity that I shouldn't miss. I filled up some paperwork, got the acceptance later and here I am."

"And how long are you going to be there for?" Yumi asked.

"I'm not sure," he answered. "According to the MIT representatives I spoke with, the internship program lasts about four to six months on average."

The Japanese girl's eyes widened in shock. She looked at Aelita whose countenance did not seem to change upon hearing just low long he could be away for. "What I'm shocked at is how well you're taking this, Aelita," she commented. "Aren't you going to miss him badly when he's gone?"

Aelita took a napkin and wiped a bit of orange sauce off of her lips. "Of course I'm going to miss him," she said. "But this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that's going to benefit him so much. As his girlfriend, it's my duty to support him every step of the way." She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. "Besides, he doesn't leave until the day after tomorrow. That gives me the chance to spend all day with him on the most important day of the year."

Yumi's attention moved from Aelita back to Jeremie. She knew that tomorrow wasn't a holiday. She also knew that it wasn't either Aelita's or Jeremie's birthday. She gave him a look that seemed desperate for some type of hint as to what was going on.

As if he read her mind perfectly, Jeremie gave her the answer. "Tomorrow is our one year anniversary," he said as his head leaned on Aelita's.

Yumi turned towards Ulrich and slapped him playfully on the shoulder before addressing Jeremie. "It's good to know that, unlike most men, you make it a point to remember important dates like that," she said with light malice.

Ulrich's head jumped up, caught off guard by Yumi's actions. "Well, I... um... you know... and..." was all he could stammer out. He knew the game that Yumi was trying to play. Their long standing friendship caused them to be so comfortable around each other that embarrassing each other in front of their friends was more than acceptable. He knew that Yumi wasn't really upset at him but he knew that she loved to see him squirm. While he had already taken the bait and was about to lose this battle, he wasn't going to go down alone. He lightly slapped Odd's shoulder. "Dude, help me out here," he requested.

The light strike from Ulrich brought Odd back to his senses. Ever since she sat down at the table, all Odd could do was stay transfixed on Aelita. His eyes locked on her beautiful slender frame as she approached the table and sat down. His ears drowned out all of the other voices and concentrated on hers, a voice so melodic that those of angels paled in comparison. If given the chance, all time would stop so that he could be in her company for as long as he desired. With that wish unfulfilled, however, Odd could do nothing else but try and help out his best friend any way he could. "Jeremie, you know you're giving the rest of us guys a bad name," he said, addressing the boy genius.

Jeremie grinned as he pushed up his glasses. "Sorry, but I think I've watched enough movies to know what happens when the guy forgets about a birthday or anniversary. That's why I made sure to set up alerts on all my computers to remind me when stuff like this is coming up."

"Someone as smart and as thoughtful as you deserves to be part of the MIT program," Aelita said as she tapped his nose with her index finger before giving him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Well, I wouldn't have gotten so smart if it wasn't for some motivation by a certain pink-haired lady that cared enough to push me," he responded with a smile and a kiss to repay her for the one she gave earlier. Aelita returned the kiss with one of her own and soon the couple were on the verge of making out in front of their friends.

Yumi looked at Ulrich and Odd as they all exchanged looks of agreement. The group had been trying to get Aelita and Jeremie to confess their feelings for each other for quite some time. While they were glad that they finally told each other how they feel and became a couple as a result, there was only so many public displays of affection they could take before it became overwhelming. Seeing as how they needed the couple to recognize that they were being watched, Yumi decided that she needed to bring them back to reality. "So, since you guys will be busy tomorrow, what do you want to do tonight?" she asked loudly so as to get their attention.

Aelita stopped herself before she could get more carried away than she already was. "Sorry, all of my ideas are for tomorrow," she answered as the rest of her friends rolled their eyes at the comment. She turned to Jeremie and asked, "Anything you what to do tonight, dear?"

Jeremie sighed. "You know how bad I am at this sort of thing. Just... surprise me."

Ulrich nodded. "We'll all meet up at your room before dinner. Between the rest of us, we should have a plan ready by then." All of them nodded just as the bell rang, signaling the beginning of the second half of the school day.

* * *

_Chapter 2 is now up. After a familiar flashback in the previous Chapter, it was time to start the new material. A small footnote here:_

_-MIT: To those unfamiliar, it stands for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a prestigious school in the United States for all kinds of engineering. I don't know if they have a program as described here but with Jeremie's intellect, who knows whether or not they would make an exception for him._

_Chapter 3 is coming soon. Enjoy._


	3. One Night in Paris

Jeremie sat as his desk as he typed out a few lines of code on his laptop. Even with XANA destroyed so long ago, the tools he created to monitor Lyoko and fight off the maniacal AI still held his interest and fascination. With the threat to the world eliminated, he felt that leaving these tools archived somewhere would be wasteful. His mission now was to modify the tools so that they could provide some practical use for the public at large. As he continued to type out more code, he heard a knock on his door. He saved his work before closing his laptop and getting up to open the door.

"Hey, Jeremie," Aelita greeted as he opened the door.

"Hey," he responded as he let her into his room Once the door was closed, he brought her closer to him and gave her a long deep kiss.

Aelita moaned in pleasure for a bit before breaking it off. "Woah, slow down there," she protested. "I promised Yumi that we'd calm down for today."

The boy genius raised an eyebrow. "We cant just let them watch?" He placed his hands in front of him once he saw the scowl on her face and grinned. "Just kidding, dear. You know I wouldn't do that to our friends or anyone else for that matter."

The pink-haired princess sighed as she continued scowling. "Did I ever tell you that you're terrible at telling jokes?" As she leaned forward to embrace him tightly, a knock on the door was heard. Both of them laughed to calm themselves down as Aelita made the first steps towards the door.

"You guys ready or should we give you some more 'alone time?'" Ulrich asked as he and the rest of the group stood there, grinning mischievously with their arms folded across their chest.

Aelita smiled as she looked back at Jeremie. "We're ready. What's the plan?" she asked.

Odd gave a giant toothy smile. "We have none."

Yumi shook her head. "What he's trying to say is that we don't have any place in particular to go. Since it's a Friday, we should all just hang out in town and see what comes up."

Jeremie grabbed the keys to his room. "Sounds good to me. Let's go." He led his girlfriend to the hallway before locking his door and joining his friends for a night on the town.

The second to last night for Jeremie in the city of Paris was not overly spectacular but it was not humdrum either. The first task was to find a place to eat. Since the group consisted of students, a fancy restaurant was definitely out of the question. Instead, the group opted for a relatively inexpensive cafe several blocks away from the campus. The food was simple and satisfying and the conversation was the same. Once everyone had finished their meals, the group decided to go walk around the downtown portion of Paris to see what activities they could partake in or what places they could visit.

The city of lights can prove to be a fascinating place to visit for tourists and other visitors. Fine restaurants are present for those with a refined appetite. Those interested in history usually visit the Arc de Triomphe while connoisseurs of the arts make sure to visit the Louvre. The Eiffel Tower, one of the world's most famous landmarks, also resides in the city and has been a beacon for tourists all over the world. While these locations all prove to be amazing for other people, those that live and work in Paris itself find these and other points of interest less fascinating. This is especially true for students of Kadic Academy whom, despite living on campus, do not feel an attraction to these places when compared to students from other areas of France. After spending an hour or two wandering the city aimlessly, the group felt that their time would be better spent back at the dorms.

Jeremie's dorm room had always been the one room where the group had found themselves converging at often. During their days fighting XANA in the world of Lyoko, the five of them would meet at the room to discuss what nefarious plot XANA had been concocting and how they would put a stop to it. They also met up thee to talk about what happened afterwards and either pat themselves on the back for a job well done or beat themselves up for failing to ensure that a plan got the the desired conclusion. After XANA had been defeated, however, the group still converged in Jeremie's room. While some of them would argue that the room was more peaceful to hang out in, considering that Aelita lived close to Sissi and Ulrich and Odd had Kiwi to contend with, hanging out in his room became more of a longtime habit than anything else. Jeremie and the rest of his friends arrived in the room complete with a few snacks and sodas, spending hours reminiscing about times gone by.

"And that's when Odd was found in the hallway by Jim," Ulrich said as everyone else started to laugh. "All he was wearing was his boxers. If Jim had shown up a little bit later, he would have seen a lot more of Odd."

"Don't you mean 'a lot less of Odd?'" Aelita quipped as the rest of the group laughed harder. Odd grinned as well before quickly taking a cheese puff from the bag and throwing it at Jeremie, hitting him squarely on the forehead.

Jeremie chuckled as he wiped away the artificial cheese powder. "Hey, I didn't say anything," he said.

"Yeah," Odd replied, "but I can't hit Aelita." He also didn't want to sully her pretty face with anything, especially powdered cheese.

"Speaking of which," Yumi started, "Aelita, you never told us how you and the boy genius over here hooked up."

"Are you sure?" she asked as Yumi shook her head. "I thought it was you that didn't tell me how you and Ulrich got together."

The Japanese girl grabbed a coin from Ulrich's pocket. "Then there's one way to settle this," she declared as she tossed the coin into the air. "Call it."

"Heads," Jeremie piped up.

The coin hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity before falling and landing flat on the ground. Yumi had a mischievous grin on her face. "Tails!" she exclaimed. "You owe us a story."

Aelita grumbled as she hit Jeremie's chest with a playful slap. "You have to help me out on this," she ordered.

Jeremie gulped. "But I'm no good at telling stories," he explained.

"Consider it practice. After all, I expect some good stories about your trip when you get back." She folded her arms and waited for his answer.

Jeremie sighed. When it came to friendly debates between classmates and friends, Jeremie always found a way to win. When it came to Aelita, however, he always found himself on the losing side of things. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed tightly. "Fine," he said, "but I'm following your lead."

Aelita's scowl turned into a smile as she began her story about how she and Jeremie finally became a couple.

* * *

_Chapter 3 is now up. Sorry for cutting this one short but I feel the flashback portion deserved it's own Chapter. Enjoy this one. Chapter 4 is coming soon._


	4. One Year Ago

Jeremie sat in the chair facing the supercomputer console. The mission was over and the world had been saved from XANA once again. More importantly, however, Herve and Nikolas were oblivious to the secret the factory held thanks to Odd's plan. While the rest of the Lyoko warriors had already left for the night, Jeremie stayed behind. He had told everyone else that he wanted to wrap up a few things before turning in for the night. In reality, however, he wanted to look at the elevator surveillance tape.

Jeremie set the video player to repeat a bookmarked section over and over again. He sat there with his hand over his mouth, his eyes glazed over on the moving black and white images of Odd and Aelita kissing as the elevator rose to a halt. He sighed as the video repeated itself for the umpteenth time. He knew that the kiss was just part of the plan to keep the secret safe. He also knew that there was nothing serious between Odd and Aelita; they were just good friends. Seeing the image of their lips pressed against each other didn't make it seem any less painful, however. While he cursed Odd under his breath, he was angrier at himself for not preventing this from happening at all. All those opportunities he had to tell her how he felt were wasted and he had no one to blame but himself for it. He took off his glasses and moved his hand over his eyes, wishing he could erase the memory of what he had witnessed.

"Jeremie, what's wrong?" Aelita asked.

The boy genius turned to the elevator door to see the pink haired beauty standing there with a look of concern on her face. He quickly gained his composure as he put his glasses back on his face. "Oh, nothing," he said. "Just rubbing the fatigue away from my eyes that's all."

Aelita shook her head and sighed. "You can't keep tiring yourself out like this," she said as she began walking towards the supercomputer terminal. "Let me help you out."

Jeremie realized what she was doing and started scrambling, trying his best to close the recorded video feed before she noticed anything. Normally he was quick and adept at doing things on a computer. This time, however, his aptitude on the computer had left him as he failed to close out the picture in time.

His true love looked at the video window, a shot of her and Odd kissing was paused on screen. "What's going on?" she asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"I can explain," he stated. He turned to face her opened his mouth but had failed to produce a sound. He finally had the perfect opportunity to tell Aelita how he really felt about her. The opportunity to tell her how much she meant to him and how he couldn't bear to live another day without her in his life. Instead, Jeremie was unable to say anything at all.

Aelita placed her hands on his shoulders. "Jeremie," she said, "Tell me why you have a picture of me and Odd on the monitor."

"Because..."

She nodded slowly, trying to encourage him to say something.

"I..."

She nodded again, hoping that he could say more.

Jeremie closed his eyes tightly. "Because I have a huge crush on you and I can't stand seeing you with another guy and I've been wanting to tell you this for a long time but I've never had the courage to tell you because I was always afraid that you wouldn't feel the same way about me and that my heart would break if I heard that and I would never be able to live again knowing that I had lost you forever." He barely opened one eyelid to make sure that Aelita was still there.

The look of concern had never left Aelita's face. "So that's why you looked angry when Odd and I came back?" she asked.

The boy genius nodded, one eye still squinting while the other was closed tightly. "I'm sorry. I should have said something earlier but..."

Aelita took away her hands from his shoulders then lunged forward and embraced him tightly, knocking him a few feet back in the process. She placed her head beside him as her arms wrapped him from his arms to his back. "You have no idea how long I've waited for you to say that to me," she said as she closed her eyes, her toe of voice changed to a much happier one.

Jeremie's eyes opened in surprise as he was interrupted by her actions. He had imagined the outcome would be far worse than it was now. "Really?" he asked in surprise.

Schaeffer's daughter did not move. "Ever since I first made contact with you in Lyoko, I knew that somehow you would be the one that would save me from that virtual prison. When you finally did it, I knew that you had cared for me more than anyone else ever would. I'd have to be blind not to see that you were the one my heart would belong to."

Jeremie smiled. He wrapped his arms around Aelita, pulling her closer to him as he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. If I wasn't so scared, I would have told you this a long time ago."

She chuckled a bit. "That doesn't matter," Aelita said. "All that matters now is that we both know how we feel about each other."

Jeremie pulled back a bit to see Aelita's face, his arms still locked around her. "So is it too early to tell you that I love you?" he asked.

"Maybe," she said, "but it's not to early for this." She leaned forward and closed her eyes as she planted her lips firmly on his. This time, the kiss felt different. When she kissed Odd, she felt nothing since she knew that this was part of the distraction plan. When she kissed Jeremie, however, she felt different. She felt comforted and excited at the same time. She got a warm feeling being in his arms and the sensation of his lips being on hers made her feel that this was the right thing to do.

Jeremie opened his eyes as they both gradually pulled out of the kiss. After all of that time worrying about when and how he would finally tell the girl of his dreams how he felt about her, he was finally able to steal away a kiss. The feeling he had inside was better than he had ever imagined. Being the genius of the class, he always felt that love was one thing that he would never be able to experience. Now that he finally had the chance to experience it, only one thing was running through his mind.

"Can we do that again?"

"And that's how it happened," Aelita declared, ending the story she and Jeremie was telling to their captive audience.

"Awww," Odd replied. "That story was so sweet I think my teeth are about to fall off."

Yumi rolled her eyes before stretching and yawning. "Ignore Odd. That story was touching but I think it's time I get home before my parents freak out."

"You need me to walk you home?" Ulrich asked.

Yumi grinned. "You'd better walk me home," she said as she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the door.

Odd stood up and headed for the door. "Well, I'm out too," he announced. "I hope I don't see you two tomorrow," he said as he left for his dorm room.

Aelita helped clean up Jeremie's room a bit before taking her leave. "I'll see you tomorrow, love."

"Good night." He leaned forward to kiss his girlfriend when he was stopped by a finger placed vertically on his lips.

"Save that for tomorrow," Aelita said as she grinned at his boyfriend's dumbfounded face before making him close the door.

* * *

_Chapter 4 is done. As you can see, the flashback wold have made Chapter 3 a longer read but it stands out better as it is now. Chapter 5 is coming. In the meantime, enjoy this one._


	5. Parisian Anniversary

The alarm clock rang for one second before being shut off. Jeremie picked up the device and examined it carefully.

7:00am

On weekends, Jeremie was neither a late sleeper nor an early riser. However, he knew that Aelita rarely slept in on weekends no matter what was happening. He knew that on a day like today, he would have to get up fairly early in order to surprise his girlfriend. Without a moment to spare, he washed up, got dressed and left campus to prepare for the day.

Aelita opened her eyes as the morning sunlight broke through her closed window blinds. As far back as she could remember, she was always a morning person. The glow of the early sunlight and chirping of the birds always reminded her that every day always starts out warm and pleasant no matter what happened the day before. She also loved the fact that most people in Kadic preferred sleep to sunrises since it ensured that mornings gave her some peaceful quiet time before the voices and actions of other students broke the silence. While she did sleep in later than usual on the weekends, the rest of the student body did as well, giving her the same time for solitude and thought she enjoyed during the rest of the week. Seeing as how this was a special day for her, however, she made it a point to get ready as soon as possible so she could spend as much time as she could with her boyfriend. She got out of bed, stretched, and made her way to the door to go to the bathroom and freshen up for the day.

"Good morning," Jeremie greeted, one hand behind his back while the other was raised, ready to knock on the door.

Aelita jumped a bit. The last thing she was expecting was her man being awake before she was. "Morning," she greeted with a smile. "What's that behind your back?"

Jeremie pulled his hand from behind his back, revealing a dozen freshly cut roses wrapped in decorative plastic. In place of a vase, each rose had a plastic vial of water attached to the stem. "These are for you. Happy anniversary," he said as he leaned forward to kiss her.

Aelita's cheeks became the same shade as her hair as she blushed with excitement. "Thank you so much," she said, leaning forward to accept his kiss. "I can't believe you woke up early to get this for me."

Jeremie grinned. "Well, someone that's so special to me deserves something special for today." He then realized that he was fully dressed up while she was still in her pajamas. "Oh, um... I should let you get ready," he said with a hint of shyness to his voice.

Aelita looked down and realized what he was referring to. "Yeah... let me just... can I just go to your room when I'm ready?" she asked.

"Sure... yeah, that'll work," he said as they both parted ways.

Jeremie finished packing up his laptop when he heard a knock at the door. He opened it to find a stunning looking woman wearing what looked like a dark red designer dress made for a supermodel. "How do I look?" Aelita asked.

Jeremie gulped as he stood there admiring the ravishing sight before him. In his mind, he felt undeserving of a woman like her since he was only wearing a short sleeved button down shirt with a simple pair of blue jeans and sneakers. "Amazing," he responded. "Much better than me, that's for sure."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

Jeremie presented to her the outfit he was wearing. "I look like some typical teenage kid. Nothing special here," he explained. "You, however, look like you just stepped out of the cover of some fashion magazine. I can't imagine you'd want to be seen out in public with someone dressed like I am."

Aelita smacked his shoulder. "Stop being silly!" she scolded. "Besides, don't you like making everyone else jealous of you for being able to date a supermodel?"

Jeremie shot a glance of confusion at her before they both broke out into laughter. The thought of the two class geniuses making everyone else at large feel jealous was something they both found humorous and ironic at the same time. After a few moments of laughter, Jeremie finally regained his composure. "Alright, no more putting myself down for the day," he promised.

"Good," she said as she took his hand into hers. "So, where are we going?"

"I figured we could go get some brunch then hang around in the city for the day," he answered.

Aelita looked at him with curiosity. "A repeat of last night?" she asked.

"Not quite," he replied as he grinned and led his date out of campus for their day out.

The couple left campus and arrived at the same cafe they went to the night before. Instead of dinner, however, they both took in a heavy brunch of fruit and other typical breakfast items. While the conversation ran light, it was heavy on innuendo as the couple alternated between quick comments to moments of silence as they looked at each other's eyes.

To her surprise, Jeremie decided to take her to the Louvre. While all of their friends were not too big on going to an art museum, Jeremie knew that Aelita was a fan of the fine arts and that she had never been to one of the world's most prestigious museums. The collection of artifacts from both ancient Western and European civilizations proved to be fascinating to her, especially the artifacts dealing with the Norse since they were the source of the stories her father read to her every night. The contemporary exhibits were also interesting since they gave them an idea as to what kinds of art they, or their possible future children, would enjoy in the years to come. While it took a long time for them to travel around the museum, they were able to sneak in some time to visit Notre Dame to take in the architectural art there and observe the tourists taking turns standing in Point Zero.

Aelita was also amazed at the choice of restaurant Jeremie had made for their dinner plans. The couple had their dinner at the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. While the restaurant was notorious for having hard to come by reservations, Jeremie successfully had reservations set for the night. While the gourmet food kept coming in, Aelita divided her time between looking at the spectacular view of Paris at night to the view of her love lit by the candlelight. While she was worried about how much this was costing him, she knew better than to ruin the moment with a topic such as that. Once the meal was done and the check was paid, Jeremie and Aelita made the journey back to campus, walking under the bright light of a full moon.

"So, did you have a good time?" Jeremie asked.

Aelita leaned on his shoulder as she clasped his hand in hers. "Of course I did," she replied, "but you didn't have to spoil me so much. After all, it's just our first anniversary."

"But isn't that all the more reason to spoil you?" he asked as they stopped in front of the doors to the dormitory building. "After all, first times for anything have to be memorable."

She smiled as she dropped his hand and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you," she said softly, her eyes basking in the warm glow of his face.

"I love you, too," he replied as he gently grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in for a kiss. Their lips met for several moments before breaking away, both of them leaning on each other's foreheads.

"Honey?" Aelita asked.

"Yes?"

"I forgot something in my room," she said. "Can you help me find it?"

"Of course." Jeremie gazed at her eyes for a few more moments before breaking away and followed her to her room, their hands still locked together firmly.

* * *

_Chapter 5 is done. A few notes to end this one out:_

_-Rated M for Mature: You may have read the Chapters up this point and wondered why this one is rated M when there's no M rated content to be found. That all changes in Chapter 6. This will be the only Chapter to contain M rated content. If you so choose, you can skip reading it and go to Chapter 7. Doing so will not make you miss on important story content, especially since you can figure out what happens by the later Chapters. You have been warned._

_-OxA vs JxA: For a fic that has a label of OxA, you may be wondering why this is so JxA heavy. Chapter 6 is the last you'll see of the JxA stuff. From Chapter 7 onwards, you'll get that other half going._

_Enjoy this one. Chapter 6 is there to add to the story, not just because the author felt like having it there._


	6. First

Aelita unlocked the door to her room and flipped the switch. Unlike other dorm rooms, Aelita's had no overhead lighting. Instead, the switch activated an electrical socket with a lamp attached. This gave the desk itself a strong source of light while the rest of the room was given a soft but dim glow. Aelita invited her boyfriend to enter first. Once he did, she followed behind, closed the door and locked it, turning the knob a bit to ensure that the locking mechanism was functioning properly.

"So, what did you forget?" Jeremie asked.

Aelita produced a mischievous grin as she slowly walked up to Jeremie and softly placed her hands on his chest. "Well..." She pecked him on the lips. "I forgot that this was 'our' anniversary. So..." She let her hands slide down the bottom of his shirt before letting them go underneath. "It's about time I give you something for today."

Jeremie shivered when her hands touched his back. The feeling gave him a sense of excitement he had never felt before in his life. The euphoria was so great that he was barely able to move or speak. His instincts were he only thing that let him function as the placed his hands firmly on her hips. "What are you going to give me?" he asked, his voice quivering with both fear and excitement.

Her hands slid up the length of his back as she pulled him closer to her. Her head leaned to his side as she brought her lips closer to his ear and whispered one word.

"Me."

Aelita's nose exhaled on his ear, the warmth of her air blowing on his as she nibbled softly on his ear lobe with her teeth. Her hands continued to feel the shivers on his back as she gently moved her palms from his back to his sides to his chest. Her red lips moved away from his ear and traveled down his neck, painting it with small, wet kisses as she moved. She continued kissing his neck until she reached his Adam's Apple. From there, she stuck out her tongue and licked him from his chin to his lips.

Jeremie continued to stand there almost motionless throughout the ordeal. There were plenty of things he could not believe were happening in his life. He never believed he would fall in love with a girl he first saw on a computer screen. He never believed that the girl would make it out of her virtual prison. He never believed that he would have the courage to tell this girl just how he felt about her. Right now, he could not believe that this same girl was going to transform the boy genius into a man.

Aelita began to unbutton his shirt from the inside. She began from the top button down, using just her thumb and forefinger to pry the clothing loose from their bonds. After noticing that he had not had any reaction other than shivers after removing the third button, Aelita jerked her head upwards, her nose possessing enough strength to move his glasses away from his face and into the air. As the glasses landed safely on the floor, Aelita peered into her beau's eyes. "Did you want to do something about now?" she asked quietly.

The words broke Jeremie out of his daze as he realized what she was hinting at him to do. Almost instinctively, he reached behind her and searched for the zipper. He found the key and slowly pulled it down, the sound of the device opening drowned out only by the sound of moaning from the kisses the couple was administering on each other. Once the zipper was completely open, one hand caressed her side underneath the dress while the other reached for the bra strap. Months ago, Odd was teaching both he and Ulrich how to unfasten one using only one hand. Jeremie struggled to remember the technique used but after one try he found that he remembered more than he had thought. With the strap hanging freely, the hand moved across the length of her back.

Aelita let out a short gasp as she felt Jeremie's fingers touch her bare skin. Like Jeremie, no one had ever touched her in those places before. The sensation was exciting and made her more anxious to get to her goal. As she unfastened the last button on Jeremie's shirt, her hands glided up the length of his chest, reaching his shoulders. She began to push the shirt away from his body, which caused Jeremie to free up his arms and let the garment fall to the floor.

The pink-haired princess went down the chest once more, her fingers painting light strokes over the front of Jeremie's body. The ten digits stopped at the waistline, discovering that there was still more work to be done. One hand grabbed the belt while the other began to unravel the mysteries of the buckle.

The sound of leather and metal made Jeremie realize just what she was doing next. Using his feet, he slipped off both of his shoes and kicked them behind. He also used his feet to remove his socks, throwing them in the same direction as his shoes. With his bare feet touching the floor of her room, Jeremie hoped that Aelita would not be disappointed by what she finds.

Aelita unfastened his belt and yanked it away from his pants, tossing it behind her. She then pulled him by the waistband, feeling something press against her that she had never felt before. A bit excited at this new discovery, she worked feverishly to unhook the top button of his jeans. She pulled down the zipper with one hand, getting a better feel of the bulge that had quickly grown in stiffness in such a short time. Aelita looked down as she took both of her hands and grabbed the waistband of both the pants and the boxers on both the left and right sides of Jeremie's body. With the anticipation becoming unbearable, she pulled them both down a little ways before gravity took over and let both garments fall to the floor effortlessly. She looked down for just a bit longer before facing Jeremie again. The devious smile on her face gave away the fact that she was definitely pleased to find that Jeremie was more of a man than she imagined.

The boy genius began to move his hands towards her shoulders where the straps of the red dress remained. In his current state of undress, he thought that it was only appropriate that his princess do the same. As he moved towards the shoulders, he felt Aelita's hands stop him.

"Not so fast," she whispered as he brushed both hands away from her. She gently shoved her boyfriend back, causing him to take a hint and take a seat on the chair behind him. She then took off the dress herself.

Jeremie grew dazed. As the red dress fell to the floor, he was mesmerized by the silhouette of the nude goddess before him. The slender frame of her body only helped to accentuate her other features, like her breasts, sized perfectly enough for Jeremie's hands to handle. Even if nothing else were to happen at this moment, Jeremie felt that he could die happy.

Aelita stepped out from her dress and walked slowly toward Jeremie. Once she got close, she wrapped her arms around his neck and straddled his legs, her body mere centimeters away from his manhood. She leaned forward but instead of giving him a kiss, she leaned to the side so that her lips were near his ear and his were the same.

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment," she whispered, her voice tense with anticipation.

"Until now," he replied, "I never thought I would get this chance."

"Jeremie," she said. "Make me the woman I want to be. Yours, and only yours." As she moved her body forward to accept him, she felt a bit of resistance as he stopped her from coming any closer.

"I can't," he said. "Not like this." Jeremie stood up and cradled her with both arms. Using strength he never knew he had, he held Aelita by her neck and buttocks and carried her from the chair to her bed. He lay her down gently before hovering over her body. He looked into her eyes once more and asked, "Are you sure?"

Aelita simply nodded and mouthed, "Yes." With that, he lowered himself down and into her.

Aelita tensed up as she felt Jeremie enter her. Talking to other girls who had experienced this before, she knew that the first time was a mixed affair depending on who you talked to. Some of the girls remember the experience being short and unsatisfying. Others remember it as being one of the most unforgettable and romantic times of their life. The one common trait, however, was the experience of pain. While it did subside over time, the sharp pain of being entered as well as the presence of blood was something that every girl had experienced their first time. Aelita anticipated that this would happen and caused her to hold of on this for some time. Her fears, however, seemed unfounded. She felt no pain as Jeremie gave a part of himself to her. Her induction into womanhood was not paid with discomfort or blood. Instead, Aelita began her first time feeling nothing but ecstasy and she only wanted more of it.

Jeremie lowered himself slowly, watching Aelita's face as he did so. Just like Aelita, Jeremie was told by his friends how his first experience could go. The unbelievable warmth of the human body making contact with his most sensitive part. The wave of pleasure that hit almost immediately. The brief feeling of guilt that happens when you see her face twist in pain. Jeremie experienced all of this except for the guilt. Upon entry, the shrill scream she created and the surprised look of happiness assured him that he didn't hurt her at all. Nevertheless, he stopped and looked at her, making sure that it as alright with her if he continued.

Aelita assured him that everything was alright not with words but with actions. She wrapped her legs around him and used her feet to push him down towards her. Jeremie obliged, his primal instincts taking over while his mind shut down. He continued to move rhythmically, raising his hips before lowering them over and over again. Aelita responded to each movement, pushing him towards her with every downward thrust. She also gave him a short, sharp scream of delight with every move to let him know he was doing a good job. While only a short amount of time had passed, both of them felt that the moment lasted longer than they had imagined.

As Jeremie continued, he suddenly felt an urge that he was all too familiar with. While he wanted to continue giving Aelita pleasure, his body knew it was time. He sped up his movements, moving faster and faster, trying to achieve his climax.

Aelita noticed the change and responded on her own, her moans still in tune with his movements as they grew more rapid. She suddenly felt a swelling where he was and knew that it was time. Her lower body tightened up as she moaned louder and longer than ever before. Jeremie felt caught in her trap as the moment finally arrived. He gave one last thrust then stayed in longer as a torrent passed on from his body to hers. Feeling the sudden rush, Aelita dug her fingers into his back, eager to take everything in as Jeremie moaned not from pain but from pleasure. As the moment ended, the ecstasy both of them experienced had begun to die down slowly. Their moans began to grow quiet as both of their bodies relaxed. Though the moment had ended, the couple prolonged it a little bit with long kisses before Jeremie exited her body. He lay down beside her and brought her closer to him. She, in turn, placed her hand and head on his chest, hearing his heartbeat start to subside.

"Aelita," Jeremie said as he kissed her forehead. "Thank you."

Aelita smiled but kept her head still. "For what?" she asked.

"For being the one perfect person in this world," he responded. A moment of silence was observed before he spoke again. "You know that I love you, right?"

Aelita looked up at his face and continued smiling. "Of course I do," she replied. "Just like you know that I love you." She turned her attention back to his chest, the smile fading away for just a bit. "I just wish you didn't have to go away for so long."

Jeremie began to stroke her hair, trying to calm her down. "Let's not talk about that right now," he said. "I don't want my last memory of you to be filled with tears. Right now, I just want to hold you and think happy thoughts."

Aelita moaned in agreement. The last thing she wanted to do was end their night with crying. "You know, there is one way we could end tonight on a happy note."

"How?" he asked, intrigued since he thought that the night had already ended well for the both of them.

Aelita looked up at Jeremie and gave him another devilish grin. She moved over his body before sitting upright. After some adjustments, she lowered herself onto her newfound steed.

* * *

_Chapter 6 is done. This was definitely a very difficult chapter to write. Most of this was due to the subject matter itself. After all, I wanted to write this in a very tasteful manner instead of a manner people typically see in M-rated fics like this. I wanted more of paperback romance feel to it rather than the writing you typically see in 'magazine letters'. Here's hoping it came out ok._

_Chapter 7 is coming soon. Enjoy!_


	7. Test

Aelita sat on her bed, staring outside her window. It was the middle of the day and since it was the beginning of the weekend, students all over campus made sure to find something to do that would either be amusing or productive. Aelita, however, had no such desire to do that at the moment. She simply wanted to stare outside from the comfort of her room. After a long sigh, she looked away from her window and put her focus on her study table instead. She picked up the digital picture frame and looked lovingly at the pictures of her boyfriend as they scrolled by.

It had been one month since Jeremie had left Kadic to go to the United States for his six month learning session at MIT. Saying goodbye at the airport was not the easiest thing for either of them to do, especially after what had happened the night before. Before a goodbye where both people tried to hold back tears, they had promised to e-mail each other so that the wait would become a bit more bearable. While they would have preferred to use a chat program instead, they knew that the differences in time would prove to be a deterrent. At first, the e-mails were constant. Not a day would go by without either e-mail box being flooded with short letters and tiny photos of themselves attached. As time passed, however, the number of e-mails decreased. Soon, the days between letters grew longer until it had become a once-a-week affair.

Aelita sighed as she put the frame back on her desk. She then picked up a plastic stick and examined it. She shook it a few times, hoping that things would change. When she saw that everything remained the same, the threw the stick in the trash before flopping down on her bed. Seeing that the blank look of the ceiling wouldn't give her any amusement, she grabbed her phone and hit a combination of speed dial buttons.

"Hey, Aelita, what's up?" Yumi asked on the other line.

"Hi, Yumi," Aelita greeted back. "You doing anything right now?"

"Nope. Ulrich's practicing penchak silat right now. I would be there with him but he keeps complaining about how he can't get any good practice in because I beat him during his sparring sessions. That and I apparently distract him."

Aelita giggled at the though of Ulrich getting beaten by a girl time and time again. "You feel like doing anything?" she asked.

"Sure," she answered. "Are you that bored now that Jeremie's gone?"

"No, I just need a distraction. Besides, I've got an errand to run and I could use some company."

"Not a problem," she assured her. "I'll be at the school soon."

Aelita ended the call and put the phone back in her pocket. After another sigh, she decided to get up and get ready for her outing with Yumi. She grabbed a two liter bottle of water, took a large gulp, then started on picking out an outfit for the trip.

Close to half an hour had passed when a knock was heard. Aelita took another drink of water before getting up from her chair and opening the door.

"Hey, Aelita," Yumi greeted. "You ready to go?"

"Sure thing," she replied as she grabbed her water and purse before leaving her room and locking it behind her. The duo left the dorm building then campus before uttering another word.

"So, what do you have in mind for us to do?" Yumi asked.

Aelita took another gulp of water. "Anything is fine, really. I just need to make sure that I get to the pharmacy."

"I never did ask you," she started, "but how was your last night with Jeremie?"

"What are you talking about?" Aelita asked, trying to play coy.

Yumi prodded, "You know, how was your night with Jeremie? Was it memorable? Magical? Was he any good in bed?"

The pink-haired princess produced a look of shock on her face. "You know that this is unfair, right? I've shared more information with you than you have with me. I mean, are you going to tell me whether or not Ulrich is any good?"

Yumi sighed. "You're right. I should be sharing info about my love life with you, too. You go first."

"Yumi!" Aelita exclaimed.

"Fine," she replied, rolling her eyes. She reached down into her pocket and produced a coin. She made a fist with one hand, placed the coin on top of her thumb and flicked the object into the air. "Call it."

"Tails," she said. Both girls watched as the piece of metal flew into the air, flipping at such a rapid pace that it looked like a translucent metal ball. The coin flew to great heights before finally making it's descent. Yumi snatched the coin from the air and slammed it down on the back of her free hand. Both of them leaned over as Yumi moved her hand, uncovering the answer.

"Heads!" she exclaimed. "You go first."

Aelita grumbled and shook her head. "I'm never playing that game with you again." She took another large gulp of water before talking. "Jeremie was amazing. He was so kind and gentle and sweet that I didn't feel any pain at all. But he also knew how to work me. He did things to me that I never thought anyone could do. I felt things so good that I don't know how I ever lived without experiencing them before. It was wonderful. He was wonderful."

Yumi grinned. "Good for you. I'm glad that everything turned out fine. Hopefully he felt the same thing even with a condom on."

Aelita took another drink of water, choosing not to respond.

Yumi continued grinning. "He did wear a condom, right?"

Another sip of water prevented Aelita from speaking.

Yumi turned to her friend, the grin now being forced onto her face. "Aelita, did he or did he not have on protection?" she asked.

"Um..." was the only response Aelita had before she drank more water.

The grin on Yumi's face disappeared, a look of concern now replaced it. "Tell me you're on the pill or you wore a diaphragm or something."

Aelita continued drinking as she slowly shook her head.

The Japanese beauty grunted as she shook her own head and buried her face in her hand. "Both of you can't be this careless," she preached. "All it takes is one chance and your whole world gets turned upside-down. I mean, you both realize that right?" She looked at her friend who was still nursing the bottle of water. When she remembered where they were headed to first, she asked "Why are you going to the pharmacy again?"

Aelita finally finished the contents of the water bottle. As she tossed the container into the nearest recycling bin, she finally decided to talk. "Because I'm late," she replied.

"You're what?" Yumi asked, hoping that she heard things incorrectly.

"I'm late," she repeated as they arrived at their destination. She went through the automatic sliding glass doors and immediately began looking for the family planning aisle.

Yumi followed closely behind and lowered her voice so as not to attract attention to the duo. "Are you sure? Maybe you're miscounting days or just not paying attention or just overly worried." She knew those answers were weak but she was hoping that Aelita simply misjudged things.

Aelita found the aisle she was looking for and began perusing through it. "My period comes in like clockwork. It's always the same number of days between them. It comes in at exactly the same time and lasts for exactly the same number of days before it goes away. It should have happened last week. It didn't."

Yumi tried reasoning things out again. "Maybe that was the case on Lyoko," she said, "but you've been on Earth for a good amount of time now. Maybe you're body is adjusting for that now and you're period fluctuates as a result."

Aelita sighed as she went through the tests, trying to pick out a different one this time. "I wish that was the case," she said, "but I took one this morning."

"And?" she asked, hoping for a good answer.

Aelita shook her head as she picked one up and headed for the cashier. "I need to make sure," she said as she gave the clerk the product. After giving her the necessary payment, she asked, "Where's the restroom?"

"At the back left corner of the store," the clerk said as she handed the goods over to Aelita and handed her the receipt. Aelita went to the restroom as Yumi waited outside of the pharmacy.

Aelita occupied a stall and opened the box. With the device in one hand and instructions on the other, she read carefully, making sure that she performed no mistakes this time around. After reviewing them once more, she placed a seat cover on the toilet seat, pulled down her underwear and sat down. Removing the cap from one end, the placed the stick between her legs and began taking the test.

The sounds of an automatic faucet stopping and an automatic toilet flushing accompanied Aelita as she exited the restroom. A blank stare of shock covered her face as she shuffled out of the pharmacy with the stick loosely gripped in her hand. As she exited the building, Yumi turned to greet her.

"So what did it say?" she asked. With her friend not responding, she took the test from her hand and examined it herself. On the results window, she saw a horizontal line with a vertical line going through the middle.

Positive.

She changed focus away from the pregnancy test over to Aelita. The blank look on her friend's face quickly changed to one of despair as she broke down crying. All Yumi could do was hold her and bury Aelita's face in her shoulder, consoling her in this unexpected turn of events.

* * *

_Chapter 7 is done. The writing is becoming much easier now that a difficult chapter was finished recently. With most of the pieces set up in my head already, it's only a matter of time before they all get finished up and posted up._

_Chapter 8 is coming soon. Enjoy!_


	8. Telling Your Friends

"What time is it?" Odd asked as he twisted a knob.

"Oh, no," Ulrich said. "You're not going to distract me this time." For a solid chunk of time, Ulrich and Odd had a battle on the foosball table located in the Kadic Academy recreational room. Both of them were skilled players and every match they played were close, the results favoring both of them equally. After many back and forth matches, this was considered the rubber match. The winner of this bout would be the champion until the next match would be made. At the moment the score favored Odd by one point. However, a quick flick of the wrist by Ulrich sent the ball flying past Odd's defenders, giving him the point he needed to tie the game.

"Seriously," Odd asked, "what time is it?"

Ulrich grabbed the rubber ball from the holding pen and looked at the clock behind Odd. "We've got time to end the game before we have to meet up with the girls," he said. "You ready?"

"Ready to win? Sure," Odd said with relative smugness.

The martial arts disciple shook his head as he placed the rubber ball in the holster. "Match point," he announced as he let the ball travel down the center of the field before smacking it with one of his forwards.

Odd twisted a knob, knocking the ball back before it got halfway through his part of he field. As the ball bounced back and forth between the opposite sides of the field, Odd began to think. Earlier in the day, both he and Ulrich received a text message asking if Aelita could talk to the both of them, along with Yumi, later in the day. She said that she wanted to meet with them in their room and had something very important to tell them. Odd was conflicted on how he should be feeling about that statement. On one hand, the news could be wonderful for Aelita. Something along the lines of she and Jeremie deciding to become a more serious couple. While it would be bad news for him, it wouldn't feel so bad if Aelita was happy in the end. Her happiness made him feel good, even if it was at the cost of his own feelings. However, the news Aelita could have could also be bad. Something along the lines of she and Jeremie breaking up. While that would make Aelita sad, it would actually make him happy since it would give him the chance to console her and possibly replace Jeremie as the one to be by Aelita's side. With so many questions and so many possibilities, Odd's mind lost focus on the game at hand. He finally snapped back into reality once he heard the banging of the rubber ball against the hard plastic of the goal area.

"Yes!" Ulrich shouted as he scored the winning goal. "Victory is mine!"

Odd couldn't believe that he had let this happen to him. "No fair, man. I got distracted," he claimed.

Ulrich looked around the rec room. Aside from himself and Odd, there was no one else present in the area. "By what?" he challenged.

The feline fighter scanned the room and realized that his excuse wouldn't hold any water. "Never mind," he stated. "Let's just go." Both boys left the rec room and headed for their dorm room. "So, what do you think Aelita wants to tell us?" he asked.

Ulrich shrugged his shoulders. "No clue," he replied. "I even asked Yumi for a hint and she refused to tell me anything."

Odd looked at his best friend. "I know you started dating Yumi not too long ago, but you've known her for quite some time," he reminded him. "Don't you think all of that should have given you some insight as to how the female mind thinks?"

Ulrich laughed at the comment. "I'm pretty dense when it comes to these sort of things," he declared. "If I had any insight into anything, I would have told Yumi how I felt a long time ago."

"Can't argue there," he commented. "You can be pretty dense." He then ran off to the dorms before Ulrich could do any bodily harm to him.

Ulrich thought about giving chase but ditched the thought once he saw Yumi arrive on campus. Instead, he stood there as she approached him. "Hey," he said as she came closer to him.

"Hey yourself," she replied before greeting him properly with a kiss.

"So what exactly is it that Aelita has to tell us?" he asked, hoping for an early answer.

Yumi bit her lip. "It's best if she tells you herself," she replied. "I'll go get her then meet you guys in your room."

"We'll be there," he said as he gave her a quick kiss before parting ways.

It wasn't long after Ulrich entered his room when there was a knocking at his door. He opened it to find Yumi on the other side with Aelita close behind her. "Hey guys," he said as he opened the door wider and moved out of the way to let them both in.

"Hey," Yumi greeted as she and Aelita walked in. She then sat on he bed next to Ulrich while Odd sat on his own bed. Aelita, however, remained standing.

"So, Aelita," Odd started. "What's up?"

"Um..."

"Are you OK?" he asked.

Aelita took a deep sigh as she finally sat down on the desk chair. She looked around nervously at her audience before taking a deep breath and breaking the silence. "I should be telling this to my parents," she started out, "but since my mother hasn't been seen in years and my father..." She stopped herself, the memory of what happened to her father still too painful to recall.

Both Odd and Ulrich leaned forward, eager for her to continue. "Go on," Odd said encouragingly.

Aelita grimaced as she tried to blot out that bad memory and move forward. "Ever since you guys rescued me from Lyoko, you've been the best friends I've ever had." She paused briefly before continuing. "You guys have helped me out through so much and I can't thank you enough or repay you for everything you've done for me."

The two boys leaned in closer. "Um, I don't understand where you're going with this," Ulrich said.

The pink haired princess looked at her audience nervously again. Seeing the dread invoked by her body language, Yumi piped up. "You've got to tell them." Feeling the stares of the eyes of her friends, Aelita closed her eyes, took a deep breath and opened her yes again.

"I'm pregnant."

Odd and Ulrich looked at each other in disbelief before turning to Aelita again. "You're what?" Odd asked.

"I'm pregnant," she repeated with a little less hesitation in her voice.

"When did this happen?" Ulrich asked.

"About a month ago," she replied. "I didn't find out for sure until yesterday."

"So you and Jeremie...?" Odd stopped as Aelita confirmed that his guess was correct. "Does he know?"

"I emailed him about it but I haven't heard anything yet," she answered.

The group looked at each other dumbfounded. Without saying anything, they looked at Aelita again. "So, what are you going to do about the baby?" Yumi asked.

"Are you going to the clinic?" Ulrich asked bluntly.

She couldn't lie to herself. Aelita had thought about going to the clinic and having the procedure done. While that would solve things, she thought otherwise. "I don't have the heart to do that," she said. "It's just... I can't"

"So, what are you going to do?" Odd asked.

Aelita sighed. "Well, unless Jeremie thinks differently in the next five months," she said. "Unless he has any opposition to the idea, I'm thinking about giving the baby up for adoption."

"Are you sure about that?" Yumi asked.

Aelita began to stare off into space. "Actually... I'm not sure of anything anymore." She buried her face in her hands for a minute before revealing it again. Everyone could tell that she was on the verge of crying due to the tears welling up in her eyes. Before anyone could say anything else, she got up from the chair. "Excuse me, I've got to check on my email," she stated as she walked out of the room.

The trio sat there, stunned at what had just taken place. Ulrich and Yumi sat there squeezing their hands, thankful that they were lucky enough not to face this situation just yet. Odd sat on his bed stone faced, not sure what to make out of the conversation. There was a moment of silence taking place before one of them decided to break it.

"I can't believe Jeremie didn't answer back," Odd said.

"Maybe he's still busy," Ulrich said. "I mean, if this place is as prestigious as he says it is, they have to be working him to the bone. He might not even have time to check his mail."

Odd sighed. He still couldn't believe that out of all the people in Kadic, Aelita was the one that was going to be a mother. He also couldn't believe that Jeremie, one of the most responsible people he knew in his life, was the one that did this to her. Disappointment and anger ran through him at the moment.

Ulrich piped up. "So what do we do now?"

"About Jeremie? Nothing," Yumi answered. "Aelita's the only one that has his email address so, for now, she can handle things. All we can do is help her out as much as we can." Everyone else agreed, knowing that the situation wasn't theirs to control.

* * *

_Chapter 8 is over. Things have already been taking a turn for the serious. Then again, with what's going on in Aelita's life, there's really no other way it can go. The story will lighten up but to what degree I can't say._

_Chapter 9 is coming soon. Enjoy!_


	9. Learning About Yourself

Aelita sat at her desk staring at the monitor. Her eyes glazed over the screen as she was presented with her email client and a list of recent emails. At the top of the list was an email from Jeremie Belpois dated a few days before she found out she was expecting. Th email held nothing of real importance. Jeremie simply relayed to her that things were getting busy over at MIT and that the experience was proving itself to be worthwhile so far. Yet this was the last time the couple had talked to each other No one had said anything since.

A blank page sat on top of the email client. The address field had Jeremie's email address on it. The subject line was blank and the body of the letter was blank as well. It was like this for several minutes. Aelita sat there with a glazed look on her face. She had no idea how to tell him what had happened over the past few days. As she continued to sit there, she heard a knock on her door. Quickly shutting off her monitor, she turned her attention to the knocking. "Who is it?" she asked.

"It's me, Odd," he answered.

Aelita smiled. She needed a distraction at this moment and Odd's arrival was perfect timing. "Come in."

"Um, I can't," he replied. "My hands are full."

Aelita raised an eyebrow in confusion. She got up from her desk and opened the door. To her surprise, Odd stood there holding a stack of books in his hands. It was the first time she could remember him holding more than one book at a time, let alone a stack that reached from below his waist to just below his chin. She smiled, trying to hold back a laugh at the sight of her friend holding the contents in front of him. "Oh my gosh. Do you need any help?" she asked.

Odd leaned back a bit to position the pile closer to his body. "No, I'm good," he said as he continued standing at the doorway. "But I'll be much better if I could put this down somewhere."

The pink haired girl stepped aside to let him in. "Just drop it on the bed," she said.

Odd nodded and walked inside the room. He went to the bed and dropped the stack as instructed, the books falling where they may as soon as they made contact with the furniture. He breathed a sigh of relief before turning to his friend. "I didn't realize that so many books would be so heavy," he stated.

"That's why girls find it flattering and amusing when guys offer to carry their books for them," she noted as she closed the door. "So, you are going to tell me why you, a guy who barely tries to even look at a book, are carrying so many of them to my room, right?"

Odd scratched the back of his head. "Well, these aren't really mine. They're for you."

Aelita had a puzzled look on her face. "You bought me a stack of books?" she asked.

The blond haired boy shook his head. "I didn't buy them for you," he said. "I just went the the library and borrowed them. They're all books on pregnancy and how to take care of yourself when you're expecting a baby."

Aelita grew even more puzzled. "Um, why does our school library have books on pregnancy?" she asked.

Odd stopped for a moment and thought about it with Aelita. Most schools, if not all of them, weren't exactly in favor of having pregnant teenagers as part of the student body. This was especially true of Kadic where, for the most part, the students were left without any real supervision outside of the school faculty. Having books like this in their libraries seemed a bit questionable. "I have no idea," responded Odd, unable to think of a good reason why they were there. The two stood there in awkward silence for a moment.

"Well, there's no sense in you getting those books if no one's going to read them," she said, breaking the silence.

Odd nodded as they both sat down and sorted them all out. The duo saw several books covering different subjects, including ones about pregnancy myths, different childbirth delivery methods and the art of lamaze. Odd picked out a book at random and showed it to Aelita. "Check this out," he said. "A book on how to name your baby. I won't need this one," he said as he put the book aside.

"You already know what you would name you first child?" Aelita asked.

"Sure I do," he proclaimed. "If it's a girl, I'm going to name her Jeanne. It just sounds cool."

"And if it's a boy?" she inquired.

"Odd," he said. "I mean, he'll have the same personality as me. Why shouldn't he have my name, too?"

"You know, some kids turn out differently than their parents did when they were that age," she informed him. "What if your kid is nothing like you?"

Odd beamed. "Then the name still fits because it's kinda odd for him not to be like his cool old man. What about you," he asked. "Any ideas on names for your baby?"

Aelita's smile faded away. "I'm still not sure if I want to keep the baby or give it up for adoption," she said as she stared off into space. "Even if I decide to keep the child, I'd want Jeremie's input on what name to give it."

Odd regretted asking that question. He came to her room to both help her out and cheer her up. Bringing up topics that would cause her to think about Jeremie was the opposite of what he wanted to do. Trying to turn the situation around, he quickly sifted through the pile of books and pulled out another one at random. "Here's a book on recommended pregnancy diets," he said.

"Oh? What does it say?" she asked.

He opened the book and flipped through a few pages before he began reading any of the material. "According to this, you should have a healthy well rounded diet consisting of all of the food groups. Anythings with fiber that's enriched is good like cereal and pasta. Oranges, strawberries and anything with lots of vitamin C is good and carrots and spinach are good vitamin A sources." Aelita nodded as Odd continued reading. "It also says to stay away from shellfish, raw fish, caffeine and diet soda since they all contain elements that can be harmful to the baby."

"What about... unusual cravings?" Aelita asked.

Odd flipped through a few more pages and found the entry in the book. "Unusual cravings are a common thing as two-thirds of pregnant women tend to have them. Unusual combinations of food include pickles with ice cream and peanut butter as well as chocolate covered hamburgers." He looked away from the book and looked at Aelita. "That actually sounds pretty good right now," he said. "Let's go get some."

Aelita looked at him strangely. "Are you sure you're not pregnant?" she asked before both of them burst into laughter and continued reading through the stack of books.

* * *

_Chapter 9 is complete. Some people would say that this would be a filler chapter. Others would see this as a bridge to something else. All I can tell you is that you'll see about 1 or 2 more chapters of this stuff happen before the story ends. I've already written out the last 2 chapters of the story so the ending has already been set. Now the only thing left to do is write out how the story reaches that conclusion._


	10. Chatting

A day had passed since Odd gave Aelita the books to read. The books had given her plenty of information to help ensure healthy growth for the unborn child for the next nine months. They had told her what to expect during each stage of her pregnancy and how to relax during this special time in her life. They also proved to be a distraction from the blank email still open on her computer. She wanted to tell her boyfriend overseas that they were expecting but she wanted to find the right way to say it to him. In her mind, she thought that doing anything else besides looking at the plank piece of digital paper would help her find the right words to gently break the news to Jeremie. While the plan did not work, she felt that she had accomplished enough already and that the words will come out soon. As she sat on her bed and closed the book, Aelita heard a knocking at the door. "Who is it?" she called out.

"No one," the voice called out.

Aelita shook her head as she took a magazine that was buried underneath the pile of books and approached the door. With one swift motion, she opened the door wide and smacked Odd on the head with the rolled up periodical. "You're such a dork," she said with a smirk.

Odd rubbed the spot where he got hit as he entered the room. "But you seem to like dorks, so that's OK," he retorted.

Aelita tossed the magazine back on her bed before folding her arms. "So, what brings you over here... again?" she asked.

"I wanted to see how you were doing with those books I borrowed from the library," he said. "I know it's a lot of material to read but a little progress is better than none, you know?"

"Actually, I'm done with them," she said. "Thanks again for getting them for me. I truly appreciate it."

"No thanks necessary, princess. Always glad to help," he said as he grinned from ear to ear.

Aelita looked at her friend suspiciously. "Call it women's intuition, but I have a feeling that you didn't just come here to check up on the books," she said.

Odd panicked briefly. He really did come over to see how she was doing. However, he also went to her room for his own benefit. It made his heart smile to see whom he thought was the most beautiful girl in Kadic. With the predicament he was now in, he thought that it would be in his best interest to make sure she had everything she needed, especially since the one who put her in this predicament was thousands of miles away. Not wanting to seem shallow, however, he needed an excuse here and now so that she wouldn't become suspicious. "I'm bored," he answered in the nick of time.

"Bored?" she asked.

Odd nodded his head. "Well," he started, "Ulrich's out with Yumi again today. I'm not sure what they're doing but I know that with him gone, I don't have much else to do. So, with me on the verge of boredom, I wanted to come and hang out with you for a while... if that's OK with you."

Aelita laughed for a bit. "Of course that's OK," she responded. "It's just funny to hear that you get bored when he's out on a date. I mean, you don't always need him around to do something, do you?"

"Of course not," he answered.

"Then it sounds like you're jealous of Yumi for taking away all of his attention," she accused.

"I'm not jealous!" he exclaimed. "At least, not very jealous."

Aelita cocked an eyebrow as she took a seat on her bed. "You're going to have to explain this one," she said.

Odd grabbed the chair next to the desk and sat down, chest facing the back rest. "Ever since Ulrich and Yumi finally confessed to each other, things have changed," he explained. "They're all good changes. Both of them have been more open around each other. There's less hostility anytime some relationship questions come up and they hang out with each other more often than we think. They're all shiny happy people right now. Believe me, that's great and I'm very happy for them both. It's just that..." He paused for a minute as Aelita leaned in closer, intrigued by where this was going. "I wish I could experience that, too, you know?"

"But you're more experienced than they are," she said. "This is the first relationship both of them have been in. You've had plenty of girlfriends in your life. Doesn't that count for something?"

Odd shook his head. "It's not the same," he argued. "They've got a bond that's stronger than anything else out there. They can trust in each other and be there for one another when things go bad. Me? I've got nobody. Every time I've tried to get into a relationship with a girl, it's lasted a week at the most. It starts off well but ends once any one of us find one little flaw in each other."

"What about Samantha?" Aelita asked.

Odd shook his head again. "That was completely a one-way deal," he stated. "I tried to give something to it and she never gave anything in return. I tried to get something for her, she wanted to steal it instead. I anted to set her on the right path, she wanted to stay on the wrong one. In the end, it never worked out and I would have been worse if I stayed in it."

Aelita placed her hand on his shoulder. "You'll find someone out there. You're to good of a person not to. Just give it some time and the right girl will find her way to you."

Odd smiled weakly. In his mind, the right girl was already in the room with him. He knew, however, that this wasn't the right time to say anything. Not yet. For a moment, they both sat down in silence.

"So, what do you think Yumi and Ulrich are up to now?" she asked, breaking the silence.

Odd cocked an eyebrow of his own. "You mean Yumi never fills you in on anything?"

Aelita shook her head. "You know, every time I try to get anything out of her, she somehow manages to turn it around so that I end up spilling my guts while she stays quiet. It's so unfair!" she cried out.

"Don't feel too bad," Odd said. "I can't get anything out of Ulrich either. If he was ever interrogated, he'd be perfect at not cracking under the pressure. In fact, the interrogators would end up confessing to things long before he would say a word."

Both of them laughed at that thought. "Oh, man, look at us gossiping about our friends," she commented. "This is so much fun, I'm surprised I never did this before."

"You mean you and Jeremie never talk about Yumi and Ulrich?" he asked curiously.

Aelita scoffed at the idea. "Jeremie can be a real stick in the mud sometimes," she answered. "He's not one to encourage gossip."

"Looks like I have to play the part of 'girl friend' and gossip with you more often," he said as both of them continued to laugh at themselves and the thought of Odd relaying hearsay like a high school gossip queen.

This was the routine that had occurred for the next few weeks. Odd and Aelita made sure to spend time with each other as much as possible. While it was a series of bonding moments for both of them, the effects for each person were different. For Aelita, the time spent with Odd was a time for comfort. She could forget her predicament for even a short period of time. She could be young and carefree and not have to worry about an impending child or telling a boyfriend thousands of miles away about the events that had transpired since he left on his program. For Odd, the time spent with Aelita made him realize that he was right all along. While Jeremie had fallen for her first, it was clear to him that he was meant to be with Aelita. She was different from all of the other girls he sought after in the past. Unlike hem, she was someone special and someone that would not shy away from a person's flaws. To Odd, she was the one he had been seeking his whole life. His only challenge now was to tell her himself.

* * *

_Chapter 10 is done._

_What was supposed to be a short fic has ballooned into something that will be 13 Chapters in length. After reading the early parts of this fic again, I realized that I need to give the OxA portions the same amount of 'screen time' as the JxA portions. It's only fair since one of the major complaints people get from these fics is how aloof Aelita seems to be in making her choices. That's something that I'm not trying to do. Hopefully it'll all work out in the end._

_Chapter 11 will hit soon... hopefully. With that Chapter being a very important one for the story, I need to make sure everything is kosher with it before unleashing it to the masses._


	11. Confessions

Odd closed the door behind him as he left his dorm to go to Aelita's. The past few weeks had taught him a few things. He had learned that he was capable of being attracted to a girl without focusing on just the physical aspects alone. He learned that he enjoyed spending time with her and that they had more in common with each other than he had previously thought. He also learned that he would have to do something if he wanted to let her know just how he felt about her. If he didn't do it soon, he would live to regret it for the rest of his life. With those thoughts in his head, he decided that tonight would be the night he would make his move. With that goal set, Odd walked up the stairs to the girls' floor and spent the time thinking about how he would confess to the girl of his dreams.

Aelita sat at her desk staring at the monitor. For what seemed like countless weeks, she had heard nothing from Jeremie. No voice mails on the phone. No emails had arrived in her computer. It was as if he had lost all means of communication at once. While this was due to the fact that he was busy with the program, as he had stated in his last email to her, it didn't help that Aelita never wrote back to him either. She had so desperately wanted to tell him what had happened to her but she had not built up enough courage to do so. How would he react? What would he say and do? With him being so involved overseas, would he even care? The possible answers running through her head frightened her. As she continued to stare at the monitor, she heard a knock at the door. She shut off her monitor and opened the door.

"Hey, princess," Odd greeted.

"Hey yourself," she responded as she stepped aside to let him in.

Odd walked inside the room, hands nervously placed in his pockets. Instead of just saying things outright, he decided to try and ease into the subject. "So, how are you doing?" he inquired.

Aelita fidgeted after closing the door. Bad thoughts concerning Jeremie still lingered in her mind. "I'm doing good, I suppose," she answered.

The purple-clad boy looked at her face and saw a change. Instead of the bright and cheery face he saw these past few weeks, he saw a face that displayed worry and fear. He decided that what he had to say was not important at the moment and concentrated on Aelita's issues. "What's wrong?"

The girl was caught off guard by the question. "Nothing," she said as she tried to avoid the issue.

Odd shook his head. While a simple 'no' would suffice for other things, this was something he could not simply ignore. "Seriously, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I told you, nothing is wrong," she repeated.

Odd folded his arms. "I won't stop asking until you tell me," he threatened.

Aelita sighed. Odd was stubborn when he wanted to be and this time was no exception. Sooner or later she would have to tell her friends the truth. Since he was in the room, it only made sense to tell him first. "Do you remember when I said that I had told Jeremie about my pregnancy?" she asked.

He nodded, wondering where she was going with this question. "Did he finally write back to you?" he asked as she shook her head. "Why not?"

There was a brief pause before she answered. "I never told him about it."

Odd's face expressed shock. He couldn't believe that Jeremie was never told what was happening back home. "Why didn't you say anything to him?" he asked.

"I'm... afraid," she confessed.

Odd began to fear for the worst. "He's not..."

Aelita shook her head, knowing exactly what he was implying. "He wouldn't even think of laying a hand on me," she explained. "But there are times where he gets so obsessed over things that he forgets everything around him, even me. When XANA was still alive, he was so driven to defeating him that he chose him over me. If it wasn't for a return to the past and a change of heart, he would have still been stuck in his room working on a program instead of joining the rest of you guys attending my first concert with the Subdigitals. With him overseas attending a special program, he might be in his obsessive mood again and not care that I'm about to have a baby. As much as I don't want to believe that'll happen, I don't want to find out whether or not I'm right." As she seemed like she was on the verge of tears, Odd reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"You shouldn't ever have to worry about someone you love not returning that love to you," he said. "And if you still feel that will be the case, then maybe it's time someone else loved you. Someone like me."

Aelita attempts to weep had ceased, replaced with confusion as she heard what Odd had said. "I don't understand."

"From the moment we kissed in the factory, I knew you were the one for me," he explained. "You and I were like kindred spirits that got along so well I could hardly imagine life without you there. The only reason I didn't go after you then was because of Jeremie. Since he was my friend, I respected his wishes and backed away. Now that he put you in this position, however, it's clear that he doesn't deserve someone like you." Before Aelita had a chance to respond, Odd moved forward and pressed his lips gently against hers.

The sense of euphoria had hit Odd. The kiss in the factory was manufactured to chase away Herve and Nikolas but it awakened feelings he never knew he had before. While it was the first time he physically kissed her, Odd felt no emotional attachment to the action. This time however, was different. This time, Odd felt happiness. For once, he didn't get just any girl but the girl that was a lot like him in many ways. He had found his soul mate and confirmed it the only way he knew how. Kissing her was like a dream that he thought would never end.

Until Aelita pulled away.

The euphoric feeling Odd had experienced had drifted away, leaving behind a feeling of confusion at what had just happened. He looked at her and asked, "What's wrong?"

Aelita blinked twice, a look of sadness draped over her face. "I can't do this, Odd," she said.

Odd reeled from the comment. In his mind, he had always imagined that Aelita felt the same way about him as he did about her. He had not imagined that this scenario could happen. "Aelita?" he asked.

"Odd, you've been a great friend to me, especially these past few weeks," she explained. "But that's just it. I can't see you as anything more than a friend. Right now, my heart still belongs to Jeremie and it will still belong to him when he returns from his trip. Even if this all ends up badly and I lose him, you're not going to be able to replace him right away. Maybe things will change later down the road but for now, you'll always be a great friend and nothing more. I'm sorry."

Those words hit Odd squarely in his chest. The thought that his love for her was only a one way street made him realize that when it came to winning Aelita, he was no longer in the running. While he was cringing on the inside, he put up a good front on the outside. "I understand," he said as he placed his hands in his pockets and backed away from her. "I'm... I'm... going to get out of here... and leave you alone for a wile." Before another word could be said, Odd approached the door and left the room as quickly as possible.

As Aelita sat down on her chair, trying to forget what had happened, her computer produced a familiar sound not heard in some time. She turned on her monitor and noticed that a notification came up informing her that she had just received new email. Aelita grabbed her mouse and clicked on the notification to open the new email.

"Hello love,

I'm sorry for not writing earlier. Things have really ramped up here on campus and I seem to be getting involved in everything, leaving me precious little time to myself. Judging by the fact that you haven't responded to my last email, I can see that things back home have become a lot busier as well.

Like I said before, things have become busy during my stay here at MIT. At first, I thought that I would be learning much more about computers and computer programming languages than I ever thought possible. However, it turns out that as far as the program is concerned, I know more than the instructors here. So now, instead of sitting down and learning with the rest of the students selected for this program, I'm the one that's helping to teach them how to do things. For once, I'm glad to have fought against XANA since it accelerated my learning rate on computers and their languages.

I wish I could write more. Unfortunately, classes call again. Please write back soon. I miss you dearly.

Love,

Jeremie"

Aelita realized what to do. No matter the consequences, she would have to tell Jeremie now what had happened. Before she changed her mind once more, she clicked on a button and began typing out an email.

Odd unlocked the door to his dorm room and went inside. Despite the fact that the lights were still on, there was no one else in the room save for a sleeping dog. He looked around the room and found a note on his bed from Ulrich saying that he would be back late that night since he was hanging out with Yumi. He was glad that Ulrich was out having a good time. It meant that his best friend would not have to see him break down and cry.

* * *

_Chapter 11 is now complete._

_With the story already taking a turn few could have predicted, the assumption is that the end is coming soon. While this is correct, there's still one little loose end left to tie up._

_Chapters 12 and 13 will be posted soon, signaling the end of the story._


	12. Loss

Night had fallen on Kadic. The moonlight had barely broken through thanks to the dark clouds that hovered over the city. The unusual snap of cold wind blowing encouraged people to stay warm while the smell of damp asphalt alerted people to rain that could hit at any moment. With the weather so foreboding, few people dared to venture outside for fear of getting cold or getting wet.

Aelita sat on her bed, thinking about what had happened the night before. Odd's confession to her was startling. She had no idea that he felt that way about her for so long. After rejecting him, the words he said to her resonated through her head for the rest of the night. However, every time she heard them, she came to the same conclusion. Odd was a good friend to her that would cheer her up when things looked bleak and help her out whenever she was in trouble. Despite his outward appearance as a womanizer, he was really a good person with a kind heart. For any other woman, Odd would be a great person to be romantically linked with. For her, however, it was different. Ever since she met him, she could only ever see him as a friend. Unlike Jeremie, she could never see herself being in a romantic relationship with Odd. Her heart belonged to one man and one man alone and that man was currently in another country. While she hated to break Odd's feelings, she knew it would have been much worse later down the road.

As she thought about all of this, Aelita felt a sharp pain in her stomach. With only a little over two months into the pregnancy, she knew that a premature birth was out of the question. She also knew that this was not nausea since she had experienced that several times before. Something was terribly wrong.

Odd walked down the hallway heading towards Aelita's room. The events from last night still lingered in his mind. While he had finally had the courage to confess to his friend's girlfriend, the result was not what he was hoping for. Still, despite the rejection, he knew that losing Aelita as a friend was much worse that not having her as his girlfriend. He had to see her now so that he can condition his mind to stop thinking of her as someone that can potentially be more than a friend. As he came to the door, he stood there and knocked.

No answer.

"Aelita, you there?" he asked as he knocked again. This time he heard a painful groaning on the other side of the door. Sensing that there was something wrong, he quickly opened the door and found her laying down on her bed in the fetal position. "Aelita?" he asked.

The pregnant teen clutched herself tighter, the pain becoming unbearable. Despite that, she tried to find the strength to say something. "Odd," she said with pained softness in her voice. "Something's wrong."

The tone of her voice made Odd realize the gravity of the situation. Instead of spending more time asking questions, Odd quickly took out his phone as he approached the bed. He punched in a few keys and listened to the ringing before a voice was heard on the other side. "I need a taxi at the front of Kadic Academy," he said in a calm manner. "And please hurry. This is an emergency." After hanging up the phone, he placed it in his pocket then sat on the bed, his back facing the girl. "Come on, Aelita," he said. "Climb on my back so I can get you to the taxi."

"Where are we going?" Aelita muttered out.

"To the hospital," he replied. "This seems too big for the school nurse to handle on her own." He guided her arms as they weakly tried to grab on to him. Once they seemed fastened around him and strong enough to prevent her from falling, Odd grabbed Aelita's legs and hoisted her to his back. Once he felt that she was going to be able to have enough strength to hang on, he carried her out of her room and out of the dorms.

With a sick girl on his back, Odd began the trek from the dormitory to the front of the campus where a taxi would be waiting for them. Once he stepped outside, a light shower began. Odd grumbled as the rain hit his face. He was never really a fan of rain and the fact that it began pelting his face did not make it any better. The groans of pain coming from Aelita, however, made him forget about the precipitation and put his focus back on getting her to a hospital. After sloshing through several small puddles that had recently formed, he reached the taxi. He opened the door and turned around so he could place Aelita in the car first before getting himself inside.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

"The closest hospital," Odd said as he closed the door and fastened both himself and Aelita down. "And I'll throw in an extra five if you hurry." The driver raised two fingers to acknowledge the passenger's request and sped through the streets of Paris in search of the closest hospital. Odd turned to his companion and asked, "How are you feeling?"

The groans coming from her mouth and the tears coming from her eyes told the story clearly. "Make it stop, please," she pleaded as she clutched her stomach. All Odd could do was rub her back as the taxi drove along.

Odd paid the driver once the taxi stopped at the hospital. Pelted by raindrops, he quickly ran out of the car and came back with a wheelchair. He guided her out of the taxi and into the chair before pushing her off into the building. "I need some help here," he announced as he entered the lobby and darted towards the front desk.

The nurse receptionist looked up from her computer screen and saw the teen pushing another teen in a wheelchair, the one in the seat in obvious pain. "What seems to be the problem?"

"I'm not sure," Odd answered. "I just found her in her room lying down and hunched together complaining about her stomach."

"Do you know if she has any pre-existing conditions?" she asked.

"Aside from her being pregnant, I don't think so," he said.

The nurse turned her attention to Aelita. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Aelita Stones," she responded weakly. Though she could have given her real name, this was the one that the school had on record.

"How are you feeling now?" she asked. A groan of pain was the only response she received. "We need to take you in right away, Ms. Stones," she said as she grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and headed to the double doors of the emergency room.

"Can I come along?" Odd asked.

The nurse shook her head. "Sorry, emergency room staff only. We'll update you on her condition as soon as we find out what's going on." With that, she took Aelita beyond the double doors. Odd simply stood there as he saw the nurse explain the situation to the nearby physicians before the doors closed behind her.

A few hours had passed since Aelita passed through the emergency room doors in a wheelchair. During that time, Odd sat in the waiting room staring at the door. Outside of a few calls to Ulrich and Yumi keeping them posted as to what was going on, he simply sat there in the chair practically motionless. The cup of hot chocolate he had bought before was half empty and cold but he didn't care. All he had cared about was what Aelita's condition was now. He had no idea what caused her pain in the first place but he was more than a little worried about it. Did her condition get better? Did it get worse? What about the unborn child? As the questions rattled through his brain, Odd took another sip of the now cold chocolate, hoping to calm himself down long enough to accept waiting just a bit longer for some information.

"Odd?"

The purple clad student turned to the sound of the voice coming from behind him. To his surprise, he saw a figure standing at the entrance of the hospital drenched in rain. The fog on the man's glasses had begun to subside as the automatic sliding doors closed behind him.

"Jeremie?" Odd asked, still in a state of shock as to why was there. Before the figure could answer, Odd put down his cup of chocolate and approached him. His first instinct was to go to the boy genius and knock him out with a solid punch to the face. For what he had put Aelita through, Odd felt that a severe beating was too good of a punishment for him. After all, if he had been more careful, none of this would have happened. However, rational thought prevented his anger from clouding his judgment. As he approached his friend, Odd gave him a hug, soaking up some of the rain into his own clothes. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Jeremie returned the hug before breaking free. "I came back to Paris as soon as I heard what had happened," he said. "I would have come back sooner but I didn't know what was going on until a few days ago."

Odd shot back a puzzled look. "Wait, how did you find out what happened?"

"Aelita emailed me a few days ago and let me know what happened during the last two months," he answered. "After making some arrangements, I took the earliest flight I could and got back to campus a few hours ago. When I went to Aelita's room and found out no one was there, I called Yumi and found out that you took Aelita here. How's she doing?"

Before Odd could respond, the emergency room doors burst open and a doctor dressed in scrubs came through from the other side. "Are you the ones who brought in Aelita Stones?" he asked.

Jeremie looked at Odd who nodded at the question. "Is she alright?" he asked frantically.

The physician had a solemn look on his face as he spoke in lowered tones. "Ms. Stones is doing fine. However..."

"However?" Jeremie interrupted.

"However," the doctor continued, "she suffered a miscarriage. We tried everything we could to save the baby but it was already too late. I'm sorry."

Jeremie and Odd looked at each other with shock and confusion. Mistake or not, Aelita's pregnancy should have resulted in the arrival of a new human being into the world. Whether or not the child was raised by Aelita, Jeremie or some other couple did not matter. Now all of those dreams and visions of the future were shattered by those painful words. After a moment of silence, Jeremie spoke. "May we see Aelita?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," the doctor replied, "but due to hospital policy, only one of you may visit her at a time in the emergency room."

Odd placed his hand on Jeremie's shoulder. "You go," he said. "After all of this, she's going to want to see you now more than ever." Before Jeremie had a chance to protest, Odd began his walk out of the hospital, prepared to wait in the rain for the next taxi to arrive as Jeremie was escorted to the hospital room by the doctor.

Jeremie quietly walked into the room where he saw Aelita asleep on the bed, her right side of the body pressed against the mattress. He pulled up a chair and set it next to the bed. As he sat down, he thought about what had just happened and emotionally kicked himself. Had he known what was going on, he would have rushed back to Paris sooner and taken care of Aelita himself. He was grateful for his friends, though. Without them, the situation could have been much worse. He leaned forward and brushed the hair away from Aelita's forehead just as she was waking up.

"Jeremie, is that you?" she asked, still a little exhausted from both the ordeal and the drugs pumped into her system.

"It's me," he answered as he smiled and continued brushing away her hair.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"As soon as I got your email, I took the earliest flight I could find back to Paris," he answered. "Aelita, why didn't you tell me everything earlier?"

Aelita had a somber look on her face. "I got scared," she replied. "I know how much this trip meant to you. I mean, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I didn't want to jeopardize things with you and let you miss this chance and yet..." She stopped as she burst into tears.

Jeremie tried to soothe her emotions by grabbing her hand in his. "Honey, you're the most important thing in my world. More important than the work and more important than anything else in this world. If anything bad happened to you, I'd never be able to live again."

"But, the program..." she said as she tried to fight though her tears.

Jeremie shook his head. "That doesn't matter," he answered. "The program can wait. You're what's important to me." He smiled as he kissed her hand. "Besides, I was way too advanced for their program. I doubt they could have taught me much else."

Aelita stopped crying and was now wiping away the last remnants of her tears. "I'm sorry this all happened," she said softly.

"Don't be sorry," he said. "Things like this happen in life. All we can do is move forward." He let go of Aelita's hand and stood up.

"Don't leave," Aelita pleaded weakly. "Not yet."

"I wasn't planning on leaving." Jeremie took off his damp jacket and kicked off his shoes and socks. With his bare feet touching the cold hospital room floor, he walked over to the other side of the bed and climbed in. He draped his arm over her body and brought himself closer to her. A deep breath from both people was followed by a moment of silence.

"Jeremie," she called out.

"Yes, love?"

"If the baby was still alive and we decided to raise it on our own, do you think we would have been ready?"

Jeremie thought about that for a bit. "I don't know," he said. "But I do know that you would have made a wonderful mother." Silence filled the room once more as the couple succumbed to the siren call of sleep, comforted by the fact that they were together once more.


	13. Normalcy

Normalcy had returned to Kadic after the events of that fateful night. For the rest of the school, nothing had changed. Days still transitioned into night. Classes had begun and ended on time. Homework and other school projects were the bane of all of the students except those who got thrills from any and all academic activity. While everyone else was unaffected, the lives of three students had changed almost overnight.

Jeremie had been more attentive to Aelita now more than ever. After the impressions that he gave in the past where it seemed like the work was the thing, he made it known to her that people would always come first for him. He did miss his chance to continue the program at MIT and, while he was truthful in saying that he knew far more than what the program had been teaching him, he would have loved to see if there was anything still worth picking up from the experience. Still, he would give it all up if it meant that Aelita could be safe and not go through anything like that alone again.

Aelita became closer with Jeremie than before thanks to the incident. Knowing that his mind wasn't just focused solely on work, she learned that keeping information away from him so he could concentrate on work was a bad idea. She learned that being careful, no matter what the situation, helps tremendously in terms of preventing problems from happening. She also learned that while most secrets aren't worth keeping from your significant other, some of them are. The lone incident between her and Odd was a good example of a secret that should remain buried and unspoken.

Odd came away from this chain of events relieved. Jeremie didn't have to go through the struggle of being a father too early and having to support a family. That alone made him happy. Aelita didn't have to face ridicule from the rest of the campus and face the possibility of having to become a single young mother. That also made him happy. The fact that both of them still remained happily in love conflicted him. While he was glad that his friends found true love in each other, he was saddened that the girl he fell in love with a long time ago never returned that love. Throughout his life, while he had learned to move on and seek the one who loved him back, he still held out a little piece of his heart to the one girl who was, for him, unattainable.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

_Story #12 is done. I wanted to do a romantic fic with a big twist to it. I also wanted to do a tragic story since I haven't done any of those yet. The best way to kill those two birds with one stone was to write this fic. Despite the tragic nature of it all and the bittersweet ending, I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. As per tradition, here are some notes:_

_-Inspiration: My inspirations for my fics come from unusual sources at times. For example, "Wits" was done because I remembered just how fascinating it was to watch Prof. Xavier and Magneto play a round of chess in the X-Men movies. My last fic, "Maps", was done because of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs song featured in Rock Band and my first fic, "Writer's Block", was done because I had no real idea what kind of fic I wanted to write the first time out. For this fic, part of it was inspired by the movie Juno. Highly recommended movie to watch and if you have seen it already, you can already pick out which parts were inspired by certain scenes and events from the movie._

_-The Love Triangle: As far as fanfics for Code Lyoko are concerned, there are two major love triangles that are often the subject of stories people write. The first triangle deals with Ulrich, Yumi and William. More often than not, William ends up being snubbed while Ulrich and Yumi get a 'happily ever after' ending. The other triangle deals with Jeremie, Aelita and Odd. Unlike the other triangle, it isn't so clear cut as to who people want Aelita to hook up with. Half of the time its Odd while the other half of the time its Jeremie. For the record, I'm a JxA person but that doesn't mean that I won't flip things in the future._

_-The Event: Bet you didn't see that one coming. I chose to go this route not because of the unexpected nature of it all but because I didn't want to go through with the consequence. Most of the time you see a fic deal with pregnancy you get to read about the baby. I didn't want the baby in the end but I didn't want to abort it either. It's a sad thing to do to a character but, again, I wanted to try my chops at going for some tragedy._

_-The Experiment: Longtime readers will know that I like to post a story when it's complete instead of posting it in pieces. This was an experiment to see if constant updating would provide more hits and, in turn, more exposure for the fic. It seemed to work, though I'm not sure if I want to make this a constant practice just yet. I'll probably end up doing this one more time with a story from The Reset Arc before giving a final verdict. I will say, though, that it was exciting to see feedback happen during every step of the story. For that, I'm grateful for the readers that put their two cents in via reviews. It has been an honor writing for you all._

_Till next time._


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